Graphical analysis of states in a computing system

Abstract

A system and method for visually depicting component states in a computing system. A graphical analysis tool includes a graphical user interface for use in viewing the history of a selected component. A user selects a system component for viewing and then using a timeline “drags” the state of the selected component to various points on the timeline in order to view states of the component at the selected point in time. States of the selected component may also be played forward or backward in a continuous manner. Logging agents in the system are configured to log data corresponding to detected events and forward the log data to a central repository. The analysis tool may access the data in the repository for use in creating visual displays. Point-in-time snapshots of a component may also be stored in the central repository and used to reproduce the history.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention relates to computing systems and, more particularly, to techniques for analyzing a history of changes in a system.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]In recent years, organizations have become increasingly dependent upon the proper operation of both computer hardware and software. Many business organizations and governmental entities rely upon applications that access large amounts of data, often exceeding a terabyte or more of data, for mission-critical applications. Many of these applications require near-continuous access to data. For example, many systems such as retail processing databases, airline reservation databases, and financial institution databases must be available to perform transaction processing 24 hours a day. Downtime associated with such systems can be disastrous. Accordingly, maintaining the proper operation and availability of the system and its applications is critically important.[0005]In ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]A graphical analysis tool is contemplated which may be used to assist studying system events and transitions. In one embodiment, the tool enables a relatively natural way of studying history of a system.

Problems solved by technology

Downtime associated with such systems can be disastrous.

Because downtime in an organization can severely impact operations, the ability to deploy additional servers, replace failed servers, or restore a previous state as quickly as possible can be critical.

However, diagnosing the causes of such problems can be very difficult.

However, as may be appreciated, such an approach may be very time consuming and relatively inefficient.

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